Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Giving Back(packs) to the Community

Posted by CheapRunnerMike

Last month I received an email at work about a program that our Community Affairs team puts on called 'Backpacks for Kids'.  This program provides children with backpacks full of supplies they will need for school.

backpack-of-school-supplies

For 8 years, backpacks filled with school supplies have been provided to underprivileged children all across the country. The program helps these kids start the school year with the right supplies so they have what it takes to keep up with their classmates and succeed. In London our backpacks will be assisting the families from the Glen Cairn Community Centre.  This is actually the part of town that Michelle grew up in and it is also where we both went to church for a number of years…in fact, it was at Glen Cairn Church that Michelle and I said our I Do's.

logo-1

My company supplies the backpacks and takes care of collecting the supplies and delivering them, and they ask us employees to get involved by getting all of the supplies to fill the backpacks.  I thought that this would be a great opportunity for us as a family to help out those in need.  So the other night we headed out to the store and picked up all of the supplies that were on our list.

school

If you can't make it out in the picture, here's what we bought;

  • Pencil case
  • 1 white eraser
  • 1 blunt scissors
  • 1 glue stick
  • 1 package of pencil crayons (package of 12 or 24)
  • 1 clear ruler with cm and mm markings
  • 1 package HB Pencils (package of 12 or 24 with erasers attached)
  • 5 duotangs with side pockets (in various colours)
  • 1 package of hole-punched, lined paper
  • 1 covered pencil sharpener
  • 4 highlighters in various colors
  • 2 rolls of scotch tape
  • 1 package of small-tipped coloured markers (package of 8 markers)

It was nice to get involved and help out our community, while teaching our kids about charity and helping out those in need.  There are plenty of other organizations out there that run similar program (there was one at Walmart the other night), so if you would like to get involved just look around your neighbourhood and see what's out there!  There are also other backpack charities out there such as Blessings in a Backpack (US site / Canadian site) where you help feed schoolchildren…opportunities abound :)

I just dropped my supplies off and our office was able to fill 77 backpacks for the kids!

Do you get involved with charities at the office?

What was your favourite school supply?

Mine were mechanical pencils…loved taking them apart and putting them back together

4 comments:

  1. Charlotte@CommitnessToFitnessAugust 21, 2013 at 9:14 AM

    what a great cause!! i volunteer outside of work with an organization called the jr league (i'm not sure if you have it in Canada, its a women's league with chapters across the US... like a sorority for grown ups, without all the beer pong :) ) our main focus is on helping underprivileged women and children. my fav back to school item was trapper keepers, folders, binders and colored tabs and stickers- i LOVED color coding and organizing more than any kid should :)

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  2. That sounds like a great organization, not sure if we have anything like it in Canada.
    I remember making the big step from a cheap-o normal binder to my first Five Star First Gear Binder...oh glorious day!

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  3. I haven't done charities at the office, but for my kid's first birthday, we asked people to make donations to the local children's hospital rather than buy gifts for our kid.
    I can't say I'm super involved with charities lately though.


    Favorite school supply... getting nice pens, they made me feel like an aristocrat in class, compared to everyone else using the cheap pens that doubled as spit ball shooters

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  4. So what did you use for spitballs then??

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